Chapter 25: In Order to Fight the Wolf Witch Part 4

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For a second, a picture of a healthy puppy born between me in my wolf form and Dietrich-sama floated in my mind. A cute and fluffy puppy. Gilbert-sama then would hold the puppy while smiling as he said. 

“My big brother’s child is super duper cute!”

Then, I came to my senses. 

So she’s saying Dietrich-sama and I have a special relationship on the premise of marriage?

No,no,no. NO, NO, NO. NO WAY!!!

I shook my head from side to side, vehemently denying it. 

“What?! Why that kind of thing-! That’s not true. Definitely, not true. And why did everyone come to that conclusion all of a sudden?”

I was visibly upset and Ruri-san answered my question with a flat expression on her face. 

“Melodia-sama spent the night in the master’s room. That must be the biggest reason why everyone came to that conclusion.”

“I intentionally fell asleep. I was talking too long with Dietrich-sama and got sleepy. That was why I ended up sleeping in Dietrich-sama. That’s all.”

“Usually, that kind of thing can only happen when you’re in a relatively close relationship with someone.”

“No, well, I mean, you’re right but… It’s just a misunderstanding.”

I wished she’d change her assumption. I tried to bring this misunderstanding issue to her but Ruri-san only gave me a blank look as if she was looking toward the direction of tomorrow. 

“I’m not in that kind of relationship with Dietrich-sama.”

The thing that just happened last night was just an accident. I was definitely not one of the candidates to become his wife. Those were my justification. 

“Umm… Does Dietrich-sama have a fiancée or anything like that?”

“None at all. I’ve heard that subject brought up before but Dietrich-sama firmly refused the notion.”

“Huh? Why?”

“He told the previous head of the family that he already has a special girl in mind. Apparently, that girl is Melodia-sama.”

“Tha-That’s… Is there really no other girl but me?”

Ruri-sama shook her head and answered with a straight face. 

“I’m sure that girl is you.”

“Whaaaat~~…..”

“Master… He… Up until now, he never had any special woman by his side. We all believed in him and waited for him to bring his special woman.”

“Bu-But… Look, I’m just a commoner.”

“Parentage is irrelevant for a woman to be married into the Fenrir family.”

I remembered the king also had said similar things to me before. But still, it was hard to believe though. 

“The most important thing is strength and I think Melodia-sama is a strong one.”

“Me? Strong?”

“Yes.”

“Just what part of me is strong?”

“You are broad-minded enough that you can accept the master, who’s not a human.”

“I’m not accepting him.”

“You’ve accepted him.”

When Ruri-san put it into words like that, it made me think…

Have I really accepted Dietrich-sama? How to say it… I feel like I’m still having mixed feelings about this. 

While it was true that I had admitted I loved Dietrich-sama, but having the resolution to become the wife of a great nobleman like Dietrich-sama was an entirely different matter. I wished Dietrich-sama was just a dog. He’d have become the best life partner I could ask. 

But still, Dietrich-sama was the head of a ducal family. There was no way I could be his wife. 

“Please, I hope Melodia-sama will be able to prepare yourself immediately.”

“What will happen if I’ve prepared myself?”

“Things will get easier.”

“…………….”

From the way Ruri-san was speaking, it was as if she was trying to say,”just stop doing this useless resistance.”

Just what was with her presence? A woman in her 20s like her shouldn’t be able to exude a pressure like this. 

“Umm…. Then can’t he just reconsider it? I’m sure there are plenty of other wonderful women out there.”

“No. The master only set his eyes on Melodia-sama.”

“There should be something we can do about it…”

“It’ll be difficult to do so.”

“Uuuuh……”

Just how did this happen?

I thought to myself while holding my head.

“Please go back to work.”

Ruri-san said, looking indifferent.

I had been practicing light magic since noon in order to use it against the Wolf Witch. There was a room in the basement of the Fenrir family where they could contain the magic from going out of control. In that room, I kept on chanting the light magic incessantly. This magic was ancient magic and it was pretty difficult to even make the magic appear. 

Even if the magic did appear, I could only make a flicker of light appear. The road ahead looked pretty grim. However, as I kept on repeating this process, I could feel myself starting to get the hang of it a little. The light also slowly increased. 

Whether we could defeat the Wolf Witch or not, it depended on the light magic I used. I had to learn this light magic by any means necessary. Today, I was able to create a fist-sized ball of light.

When evening came, Ruri-san came to pick me up.

“Melodia-sama, your bath is ready.”

“Ah, yes! I’ll go after I finish tending to my staff.”

I quickly wiped the crystal on the staff with holy water and then I waxed the handle of the staff. If the staff didn’t get maintained everyday, the staff might break because it couldn’t withstand the magic power when we tried to cast magic using it. The holy water cleansed the staff from the bad air that tended to be trapped in the staff while the wax I used was made from magic stone that had been grinded into a paste. This wax would increase the magic resistance of the staff.

After I finished maintaining the staff, I rushed up the stairs. From the windows, I could see the sun was about to set. 

“Uwah!! I need to hurry!!”

When I arrived at the bathroom, Ruri-san was already there. She had added more hot water because I was late to get there. 

“I-I’m sorry.”

“No problem. Melodia-sama, if you’re going to change into your wolf form, I will help you bathe.”

“No, I’d feel bad.”

If I changed into my wolf form, I wouldn’t be able to take a bath by myself but there was no way I could let Ruri-san wash me.

“I’m already used to it.”

Maybe she had been washing Dietrich-sama’s body before? The moment I imagined it, I could feel this chilling and painful sensation in my chest. When I imagined Ruri-san touching Dietrich-sama, my heart felt uneasy. 

“Melodia-sama, how about it? Will you let me help you?”

“Umm… Before that… Ruri-san, I’m curious to know if you’ve helped Dietrich-sama with his bath before?”

After Ruri-san heard my question she suddenly laughed. The smile of a cool-looking person like her was incredibly destructive. 

No, wait. That’s not it. 

“I have a dog back in my home and I’ve been washing my dog once a week.”

“Aaaah… So that’s what you meant.”

It turned out I had misunderstood her meaning. I felt extremely embarrassed and while I was stuck with my feelings, I could feel the usual seizure coming. My transformation into a wolf was about to begin. I must’ve spent too much time maintaining my staff. It was difficult to keep track of time in the basement because there wasn’t any window. 

“Ah… Uughh…!”

“Melodia-sama, are you going to turn into a wolf?”

“Ah… Yes.”

“Is there anything you want me to get for you?”

“Wa-… Water, please.”

I remembered I always felt parched. Ruri-san immediately went to fetch me water and it was then that I started to lose my consciousness. 

“Uuuuh… Nnh…”

I had turned into a wolf and I was sleeping on Ruri-san’s lap. 

“Melodia-sama, are you awake?”

“Wau.”

I heard the sound of laughter coming from above. Ruri-san was laughing that even her shoulder was shaking.

“Well, you can’t talk like the master can in this form, right?”

“Wau~”

Hearing my stupid whine, Ruri-san laughed even harder. She usually always looked cool and scary but when she laughed like this, it felt like her aura became more friendly now. 

“Here’s your water.”

“Woof.”

I thanked her and drank my water. It was lemon water. It felt so refreshing and delicious. After rehydrating myself, Ruri-san helped me into the bath and scrubbed me thoroughly. 

“Uuuu…. Wau… Kuun!”

“Melodia-sama, please stop letting out funny voices like that.”

But… It feels so good…

Ruri-san really possessed amazing dog-washing ability. She thoroughly wiped me dry and brushed my fur. Thanks to her, my fur looked all sparkly. She even wrapped a ribbon around my neck as a finishing touch. 

After taking a bath, I went to have dinner with Dietrich-sama. Today, Gilbert-sama was also eating with us so our dinner was quite a lively one. 

“To think my big brother would invite me to eat with him… I feel like I’m still dreaming.”

“Last night I realized that when you eat by yourself, the food doesn’t taste as good.”

“It must be thanks to Melodia-san! Thank you very much!”

It seemed Gilbert-sama had been eating alone for a long time too. I was glad Dietrich-sama had the courage to invite Gilbert-sama to eat with him. Gilbert-sama must be ecstatic. He was smiling even more than usual.